


Cocoa Powder Footprints

by WizardWriting



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Family, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26512060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WizardWriting/pseuds/WizardWriting
Summary: Charlie Weasley wants to bake a birthday cake for Hermione. In doing so, his enlists the help of their son to complete it. A one-shot.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Charlie Weasley
Kudos: 24





	Cocoa Powder Footprints

"Dad, why can't we bake mum's birthday cake using magic? It'll be much easier," his son said with his hands on his hips.  
  
They were in the kitchen of their home next to the East Dart River in Dartmoor as Charlie read the instructions in a baking book he had unearthed in one of the cupboards. It was currently propped against a mixing bowl that housed four eggs (though all of them remained intact for the time being) and a whisk was in one of his hands. He scratched at his chin absentmindedly.  
  
"Pete, your mum deserves more than magic for her birthday cake," Charlie replied. He was a bit distracted because he was trying to decipher the directions in order to properly bake a birthday cake. And he voiced such opinions too when he said, "Granny Granger's baking book is one confusing mess. I mean, what in Merlin's name is a mixer?"  
  
Charlie ran his fingers through his short, fiery red hair in frustration, flipping forwards and backwards a couple of pages to see if it explained what a damned mixer was.  
  
Suddenly, one of the kitchen chairs was pushed against the counter Charlie was using as his baking station with Pete climbing atop it saying, "Let me see if I can help."  
  
Charlie grinned at his son's acceptance that they were going to do things the _Muggle way_ in treating Hermione for her birthday. After all, Charlie insisted that they did.  
  
Pete flipped through the pages almost hungrily, taking in the directions that were given to him. His sapphire blue eyes squinted in concentration as he tilted his head to one side ( _He looks exactly like Hermione does when she's reading the St Mungo's Weekly Journal of Medicine,_ Charlie thought) before he scratched at his chin ( _Hey, that's what I do!_ he mentally exclaimed right after the fact).  
  
"Dad, I'm pretty sure we need to crack the eggs first before we put them in the mixing bowl," Pete said without looking at him. "Then we need to add the butter, buttermilk, sugar, and vanilla extract."  
  
"Okay buddy, I'll put you in charge of the kitchen today. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it."  
  
A wide smile broke out over Pete's face at being put in charge for Charlie knew that his son liked to bark out orders (in his seven-year-old voice, that is), mimicking Hermione and her bossy attitude to perfection.  
  
Taking command over what was needed and what needed to be done, Charlie soon realized that he was woefully unprepared for his son's rather cute, yet still authoritarian, rule.  
  
After a couple of minutes, Charlie had patches of flour that bloomed across his cheeks while cocoa powder covered the kitchen floor like an ugly brown lake. Pete, in his instruction-inducing mania, accidentally knocked over its pouch. When this happened, Charlie quickly grabbed a handful of cocoa powder and threw it into the mixing bowl ( _Dad, that's disgusting!_ Pete protested), seeing that it was a key ingredient to the chocolate birthday cake they were trying to finish before Hermione came home from work. Charlie then poured the cake batter in a round pan, using a spoon to scrape all of it inside.  
  
When he was finished with this, he held up the spoon to Pete and asked, "Want to polish it off?"  
  
Pete made to grab at it but Charlie (his reflexes still wicked fast as such reflexes were needed on the Northumberland Dragon Reserve) pulled it back easily, out of his reach.  
  
"What do you say?"  
  
He huffed in a very Hermione-like way and said, "May I please lick the spoon?"  
  
Charlie couldn't help himself for he bent down and kissed Pete's cheek, surrendering over the batter-covered spoon in the process.  
  
"What's next, buddy?"  
  
"Uh, one sec," he said, holding up one of his little fingers. Charlie looked over at him to see that he was still finishing off the chocolate on the spoon, his eyes closed at its tastiness. "Done!" he exclaimed, licking his lips and throwing the spoon in the sink with a loud clatter. "Next, it says to put the birthday cake in the oven for… _thirty minutes!_ " he said, his eyes wide like bug eyes. "Dad, that's such a long time!"  
  
"Don't worry, Pete, thirty minutes will fly by in no time," Charlie responded, pushing the pan into the scorching oven, feeling a wall of heat blast his face when he opened the door. ( _Kind of feels like the Northumberland Dragon Reserve, doesn't it?_ he thought to himself.) "In the meantime, we've got to clean up this mess of cocoa powder. Your mum will have a fit if she sees this."  
  
"Well, can't you clean it up with magic?" Pete asked matter-of-factly. "It'll save us a lot of time."  
  
"Excuse me," Charlie began, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the counter, "but who was it that spilt cocoa powder all over the floor?"  
  
"Wasn't it you?"  
  
Charlie looked over at Pete to see the corners of his mouth turn upward as his own smile was in danger of making an appearance.  
  
"Pete, Pete, Pete," Charlie began, shaking his head back and forth. "Trying to pin the crime on me, are you? You know what happens when you do that?"  
  
Pete's eyes bulged (so much so that they were in danger of falling out of their sockets) as Charlie crept closer to him, sliding along the counter. Not waiting another second, Pete jumped off the chair where he had claimed his throne, landing feet first in the pile of cocoa powder (the cocoa powder sighed into the air) and ran from the kitchen. With his arms swinging like Muggle windmills, he yelled, "No, not the Tickle Monster…not the Tickle Monster!"  
  
Charlie had to stuff his fist into his mouth to keep from laughing aloud. He waited for Pete to get a head start (after all, he always went to the same hiding place) before he went after him, letting the Tickle Monster come out and play.  
  
When he left the kitchen, Charlie mentally smacked himself in the head when his eyes fell upon the track of cocoa powder footprints all over the floor.

 _This is why I get for doing things the Muggle way.  
  
_ Shaking his head and figuring he'll clean it up later, Charlie made a point to noisily enter every room in the house, calling out with each door he opened, "Is Pete in this one, Tickle Monster?"  
  
When Charlie arrived in the master bedroom (one he dutifully shared with Hermione), sure enough, he saw that a Pete-sized lump existed in the middle of the bed, huddled under the sheets.  
  
"How about this one, Tickle Monster?" Charlie asked, taking quietly to the bed, his eyes never leaving the Pete-sized lump. "D'you think Pete is somewhere in here?"  
  
Without another word, Charlie reached down and pulled the duvet off the bed, throwing it on the floor, exposing Pete who was curled into a fetal position, as tight as kitten when it was sleeping.  
  
Understanding that his hiding position had now been compromised, Pete stood to his feet (cocoa powder pooling together atop the mattress under his weight), held up his arms and yelled, "No, Daddy!"  
  
Charlie, however, paid him no attention for he dived forward, tackling Pete playfully. He ran his fingers up and down Pete's side (the most sensitive parts of his body), making him squeal, though he put up a pretty good fight in trying to wriggle free.  
  
"Daddy, I can't… _ha ha_ …it just… _he he_ …tickles!" he finally managed to get out.  
  
"It's the Tickle Monster, Pete, what did you expect?" Charlie asked, grinning.  
  
"Okay, Daddy, okay!" Pete said, giggling loudly while tears were like a heavy rainfall down his cheeks.  
  
Charlie stilled before collapsing backwards against the pillows of the bed with his arms outstretched as if he was exhausted. Truthfully, he was exhausted.  
  
Poking his head up and looking over at him, Pete asked, "Are you tried?" while still trying to catch his breath.  
  
"Keeping up with you makes me tired, buddy. You're like one of the baby dragons on the Reserve."  
  
"So what makes me different from the baby dragons?" he asked, crawling closer to Charlie.  
  
"What makes you different," Charlie started, grabbing Pete and hugging him tightly against his chest, "is that you are completely mine, something your mum and I created together," he finished, rocking Pete gently. He then kissed his red hair, hair that was the exact same shade as Charlie's.  
  
"How did you and mum create me?" he asked next.  
  
"Well, when two people love each other very much, like me and your mum, they decide to settle down and start a family of their own."  
  
"I know that," Pete replied, "but how did you and mum _create_ me?"  
  
"Um...well," he stuttered, deciding on the best course of action to take. "You see, your mum and I sat down one day and drew a picture. The picture was of what we wanted you to look like. With me so far?" When he felt Pete nod his head against his chest, he continued, "You were created when mummy slept with your picture under her pillow with a full moon. The next morning, your picture disappeared and she became pregnant with you."  
  
Pete glanced up at Charlie and asked rather doubtfully, "Was that really how I was created? What if you messed up my picture?"  
  
"Then we would've had to start all over," Charlie said.  
  
"Did you have to start over?"  
  
Charlie smiled and said, "No, Pete, you came out perfect the very first time."  
  
"Hmpf," he said, letting his head fall against Charlie's chest.  
  
A stillness surrounded them then, one that was soothing to Charlie in every way imaginable. Closing his eyes, he wanted to remember this moment forever: him and his son dozing in the late afternoon on the bed, the East Dart River visible from the window. Actually, this was something that Charlie hadn't known he wanted…that was until he met Hermione.  
  
He remembered her in the Great Hall after the War, hugging him tightly because of Fred's death. Her touch, while short, and at the time strictly platonic, created a weird fluttering sensation in his stomach, making his head spin so much that it made him dizzy. Of course, he tried not to think too much about it at the time as thinking about such things would be inappropriate given the War. Yet, he couldn't help himself when he felt her touch every night before he went to sleep. It drove him mad that he was across the Continent from her, so mad that he jumped on the opportunity to apply for a position at the Northumberland Dragon Reserve.  
  
What came after was a whirlwind type of relationship, one that moved so fast that it was hard to keep up: their first date was at a Muggle restaurant at Port Isaac in Cornwall; the first time they kissed was at Scafell Pike, the Wasdale Valley and Wastwater below them; the first time they made love was at Charlie's place on the Northumberland Dragon Sanctuary; and Pete came nine months later. This was topped with his proposal to Hermione near Durdle Door on the Jurassic Coast and a wedding at the Burrow a couple of months after that.  
  
Soon, Charlie felt himself drifting away, the clutches of unconsciousness beginning its acquisition of him. As he did so, his mind sketched an image of Hermione: bushy hair, brown eyes, and beautifully-curved lips all included. At the moment, he wanted nothing more than for her to be lying next to him, completing their little family of three…a perfect one too.  
  
Just as his head fell to the side, the timer in the kitchen screamed, making him sit up sharply. After carefully moving Pete off so he wouldn't wake him, he ran into the kitchen, silencing the alarm with a wave of his wand, taking the birthday cake out of the oven.  
  
 _Looks like a birthday cake should,_ he said to himself. _Pete's pretty good at giving directions.  
  
_ The front door of the home then opened as Hermione called out, "I'm home!"  
  
Charlie left the kitchen quickly, vanishing the pile of cocoa powder and the cocoa powder footprints with his wand (lest she have kittens about the mess), meeting Hermione just as she was hanging her coat in the front wardrobe.  
  
"Hey," Charlie said, smiling.  
  
When she turned around to face him, he grabbed her waist with one hand while the other went to the back of her neck. After looking into her eyes, he kissed her as passionately as he could, slipping his tongue inside her mouth. The sensation of their kiss was incredible, seismic even, just as it was every time they did it.  
  
"Happy Birthday," he told her softly, kissing her again. (He gave her a little bit more tongue too.)

* * *

After devouring bangers and mash topped with onion gravy for dinner (one of Hermione's favorite comfort foods), Charlie brought out the chocolate birthday cake (now cloaked in a strawberry icing – something he had done himself though used magic to do it). Afterwards, he and Pete took part in singing an off-key rendition of _Happy Birthday_. The chocolate birthday cake was then ravaged into extinction (mainly by the Charlie-Pete tag-team) while Hermione told Charlie about her day at St Mungo's as Head Healer.  
  
Pete was then told to wash up for bed as Charlie and Hermione went to tuck him in.  
  
"Mummy, when's the next full moon?" he asked once he was settled.  
  
Charlie saw that Hermione was curious as she sat down on Pete's bed, answering, "I believe it's next Friday," and she stroked his red hair tenderly. "Why do you want to know that honey?"  
  
"Because I'm going to create a brand-new dragon! Daddy said that I was created when you slept with a picture of me under your pillow with a full moon!"  
  
Hermione gave Charlie a humorous look who decided to sit on Pete's other side, grinning.  
  
"Good night," Hermione said, Charlie guessing that she didn't have the heart to refute his dragon-filled wishes, bending down and kissing his forehead.  
  
"Sleep well, Pete, and we'll see you in the morning," Charlie told him, taking his turn to lean forward to nuzzle the side of his son's neck.  
  
"'Night mum, 'night dad," he yawned, closing his eyes.  
  
Upon closing the door to Pete's bedroom, Charlie took Hermione's hand and led her to the living area as she asked, "So are you going to be the one to explain to him next Friday why his brand-new dragon isn't around?"  
  
"Babe, he asked me how he was created. The picture drawing was the first thing that popped into my head."  
  
Hermione laughed as Charlie sat down on a pile of cushions, pulling her into his lap. They were in front of the fireplace, the flames licking the logs piled at its base.  
  
"The things that pop into your head are sometimes very odd."  
  
"Odd?" he repeated. "I thought it was pretty ingenious if I do say so myself."  
  
Hermione scoffed as she rested her head against the crook of his neck.  
  
Sighing, she said, "I missed you guys today. In fact, I miss you guys every Saturday I'm at work. I hate being away on the weekends."  
  
Charlie waited for a moment, his eyes on the fire, before saying, "So would you like to rectify things?"  
  
Turning to look at him, she asked, "What do you mean?"  
  
Without answering, Charlie bent down and captured her lips with his. And over the better part of the next hour, Charlie and Hermione explored each other's bodies they were already well accustomed to yet could never seem to get enough of. With the fire slowly dying next to them, Charlie and Hermione made passionate love, Charlie grunting as he felt thick ropes of semen shoot into her and Hermione gasping as she reached her orgasm, biting his neck when she did.  
  
"I love you, Charlie," Hermione said once she recovered.  
  
"And I love you, Hermione," he returned, stealing another kiss from her, "more than anything else in the world. It's you and Pete…that's it."  
  
"What about your family?"  
  
"You guys are my family," he told her.  
  
"You know what I mean," she said.  
  
Charlie wet his lips and said, "I love them too, but I love you and Pete a lot more."  
  
"And what do you think about adding one more to the mix?"  
  
Confused, Charlie asked, "What're you talking about?"  
  
She pushed him off, his semen spilling out of her like a river, and said, "I'm pregnant."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading.


End file.
